Two compartment thermal generator sphere



Feb. 3, 1970 w. w. REAVES ET AL 3,492,944

TWO COMPARTMENT THERMAL GENERATOR SPHERE Filed April 4, 1968 l/WEA/TORSWoodrow M Ream Stanley M. W/u'fe ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,492,944 TWO COMPARTMENT THERMAL GENERATOR SPHERE Woodrow W. Reaves,Baltimore, and Stanley M. White, North East, Md., assignors to theUnited States of America as represented by the Secretary of the ArmyFiled Apr. 4, 1968, Set. No. 718,794

Int. Cl. F42!) .25/12 US. Cl 102-6 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThe invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensedby or for the Government for governmental purposes without the paymentto us of any royalty thereon.

Our invention relates to a device and method for dispersing insecticidesand chemical warfare agents in the form of aerosols.

The importance of dispersing insecticides and chemical warfare agents asvery small droplets or particles has been recognized. In the case ofchemical warfare agents, this is true not only in regard to solid agentswhich must be very finely divided to effectively penetrate the nasalbarriers, but also in regard to liquid agents when it is desired to setup an immediate high concentration of vapor in the initial cloud inorder to produce casualties before the gas mask can be adjusted.

Numerous types of shells, bombs, and grenades for the dissemination ofchemical warfare agents, such as the device set forth in US. Patent No.3,117,521, have previously been devised. However, all of the prior artdevices lacked the versatility to be adapted to a member of differentrequirements. For example, the use of different agents results indifferent operating conditions such as different internal pressureswithin the device, different temperatures, and different dispensingvelocities. Such differences in operating conditions necessitatedvarying the container thicknesses, the number and diameter of ventholes, various sizes of dispensing orifices, etc. Obviously, this led toan inventory of several different devices to meet the needs of each ofthe many agents utilized. A further problem regarding the prior artdevices existed on functioning in that the device had to be properlyvertically positioned to expel agent and the device would not rightitself when ejected from an aircraft, for example. There fore, the needexisted for a self-righting, universal device capable of being used forany agent, and our invention was conceived and reduced to practice toovercome the above problems.

A principal object of our invention is to provide a reliable means andmethod for dispersing insecticides and chemical warfare agents in theform of aerosols; said means and method being capable of utilizing anyagent to be dispersed.

A further object of our invention is to provide a reliable means andmethod for dispersing insecticides and chemical warfare agents in theform of aerosols; said means and method being capable of righting itselfwhen ejected from an aircraft.

3,492,944 Patented Feb. 3, 1970 "ice Other objects of our invention willbe obvious or will appear from the specification hereinafter set forth.

FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional view of our assembled device.

FIGURE 2 is a view of the agent bladder for our device.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the fuel container for our device.

FIGURE 4 is a view of our assembled device showing the aluminum case.

Our invention and FIGURES 1-4 Will now be described in detail asfollows:

As shown in FIGURE 1, hollow steel fuel container 1 is fixedly mountedwithin an aluminum case 3 by any conventional fastening means such aswelding at interface 2 between the edge of the hole in each hemisphere 4of container 3 and edge 5 of the fuel container or by providing each endof the fuel container with threads (not shown in the drawing) andfastening within case 3 by nut means (not shown in the drawing). Whilecontainer 1 is shown in cylindrical configuration in the drawing, theshape can be changed to suit ones needs. Prior to mounting container 1within case 3, container 1 is inserted within hollow bladder 6, as shownin FIGURE 2, and ends 7 of the bladder are fastened to container 1 byany conventional hose clamping means Such as metal band 8 located tosecure bladder 6 within annular groove 9 of container 1. Bladder 6 ismade of rubber or any elastomeric material compatible with the agentutilized. Fuel block 10 mounted within container 1 is any conventionalgas producing fuel ignited by conventional fuze 11. See U. S. Patent No.3,117,521 regarding the use of gas producing fuels and the fuzetherefor. Block 10 is held within container 1 by mount 12 welded withincontainer 1 and spring loaded movable mount 13. Mounts 12 and 13 areprovided with ports 14 for the escape of gas from chamber 15 afterignition of the fuel. Female thread means 16 are provided in each end ofcontainer 1 for the insertion of plugs 17 and 18 therein to prevent theloss of agent contents during storage. Plug 17 is provided with aplurality of channels 19 radially arranged and at an angle ofapproximately 50 degrees from the horizontal so as to connect withchannels 20 in container 1 when plug 17 is fully inserted withincontainer 1, as shown in FIGURE 1, to provide a means to eject the agentfrom our device on ignition. The diameter and configuration of channels19 can be designed Within the skill of the art to any desired exitvelocity of the particular agent utilized. Plug 17 is designed to permitmaking a series of plugs having different sizes and configurations ofchannels 19 to permit interchange as required, depending on theparticular agent to be dispersed. Also, the number of such channels canbe adjusted within the skill of the art depending on the volume of theagent to be dispersed. Hemispheres 4 are held together by anyconventional fastening means, such as channel 21 clamped on flanges 22,as shown in FIGURE 1. A gasket 23 is provided between flanges 22 toavoid agent leakage. Plugs 17 and 18 are provided with recesses 24 toinsert a tool, not shown in the drawing, therein for the insertion andremoval of the plugs.

After our device has been assembled as described above, liquid agent isinserted into bladder 6 through channels 19 and 20 by means of ahypodermic needle. After the desired amount of agent has been inserted,channels 19 are sealed at ends 25, as shown in FIGURE 1, by a lowmelting alloy such as Woods metal; friction fit blow out plug 31, a corkor rubber stopper, is inserted in void 32 to seal off compartment 27outlet to the atmosphere; and the device is stored until needed.

To activate the device, fuze 11 is ignited by any conventional meanssuch as a squib or primer which in turn ignites fuel block -10. Onignition of fuel block gas is produced which passes from chamber throughports 14 into chambers 26 and 27. The heat of the gas in chamber 27 issufiicient to melt the Woods metal in ends 25 of channels 19 to permitthe free fiow of agent from our device and the pressure of the gas blowsout plug 31. The gas in chamber 26 fiows to space 29, between bladder 6and case 3, by means of ports 28'. The gas pressure causes bladder 6 tocollapse and push the agent contained therein through channels and 19and void 32 to be expelled into the atmosphere as an aerosol cloud.Bladder 6 can be designed within the skill of the art to any desiredvolume. Case 3 is provided with conventional aerodynamic stabilizersurfaces 30 to insure that our device rights itself irrespective of theattitude acquired on activation.

It is obvious that other modifications can be made of our invention, andwe desire Our invention to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for disseminating an aerosol cloud comprising a case;stabilizer surfaces located in the outer wall of said case, saidsurfaces being adapted to right the apparatus irrespective of attitudeon activation; a fuel container fixedly mounted within said case; anupper mount fixedly supported within said fuel container; a lowermovable spring loaded mount located within said fuel container and belowsaid upper mount, the bottom surface of said upper mount and the topsurface of said I lower mount and the inside wall of said fuel containerforming a first compartment means; a fuel block means located withinsaid fuel container between said upper and lower mounts, said blockbeing adapted to generate gas on activation thereof; means for ignitingsaid fuel block means; a first plug means fixedly mounted within one endof said fuel container, said first plug means being adapted to beremoved therefrom, the bottom surface of said first plug means and thetop surface of said upper mount and the inside wall of said fuelcontainer forming a second compartment means; a second plug meansfixedly mounted within the end of said fuel container opposite to thatend wherein said first plug means is mounted, the top surface of saidsecond plug means and the bottom surface of said lower mount and theinside wall of said fuel container forming a third compartment means; avoid means located in the center of said first plug means incommunication with the said second compartment means and the environmentoutside of said case; a friction fit third plug means located in saidvoid means adjacent to the upper surface of said first plug means andadapted to seal off said void during storage and to be ejected by gaspressure means on activation of said fuel block; a plurality of firstport means located in said upper mount in communication with said secondcompartment means and said first compartment means; a plurality ofsecond port means located in said lower mount in communication with saidfirst compartment means and said third compartment means; bladder meanssurrounding said fuel container and within said case, said bladder beingfixedly mounted at each end of said fuel container; a fourth compartmentmeans formed between the inner wall of said bladder means and the outerwall of said fuel container, said fourth compartment means being adaptedto contain agent to be disseminated; a fifth compartment means formedbetween the outer wall of said bladder means and the inner wall of saidcase, said fifth compartment means being adapted to contain gas toinsert pressure on the outer wall of said bladder means; a plurality offirst channel means located in the outer wall of said fuel container incommunication with said fourth compartment means; a plurality of secondchannel means located within said first plug means in communication withsaid void and said first 'channel means; a fourth plug means located inthe extremity of said second channel means adjacent said third plugmeans, said fourth plug means being adapted to prevent loss of agentduring storage and to be melted on activationof said fuel block; aplurality of third port means located .in said fuel container adjacentto .said second plug means, said third port means being in communicationwith said third compartment means and said fifth compartment means; andmeans for the insertion and removal of said first and second plug means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said case comprises a pair ofhemispheres 'havingmeans being adapted to fixedly join said hemispherestogether.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein-eachmember of the hemisphere pair isjoined by a weld means at the annular periphery in thehorizontal planeof said hemisphere to each end of the fuel container.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said hemisphere joining meanscomprises an annular flange member located at the annular periphery inthe horizontal plane of each member of said hemisphere pair.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein an annular gasket is disposedbetween the flange members to form a sandwich closure member.

6. The apparatus of claim '5 wherein said closure member is fixedlyjoined by a channel shaped clamp.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said fuel container is cylindricalin configuration;

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said upper mount is an annular ringwelded to said fuel container at the outer periphery of said ring.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the fuel block is cylindrical inconfiguration.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein female thread means are located ineach end of said fuel container, said thread means being adapted tofixedly m unt said first and second plug means.

-11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bladder means is anyelastomeric material compatible with the agent being dispersed.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said fourth plug means is Woodsmetal.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the outer surface of said first andsecond plug means is provided with male thread means, said male threadmeans being adapted to mate with the female thread means of said fuelcontainer.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for insertion andremoval of said first and second plug means is a plurality of recessmeans located in the outer surfaces of said first and second plug means,said recess means being adapted to receive a tool therein for saidinsertion and removal. 1

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said igniting means is a fuze.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,372,264 3/1945 Firth 102-62,808,114 10/1957 Parker et al. 16928 3,170,398' 2/1965 Paulson et al..102-6 3,238,143 3/1966 Ainsley et al. l0265 X SAMUEL W. ENGLEQPrimaryExaminer

